Buckle for linemen&#39;s belts



NOV. 13, 1934. R GORDON 1,980,678

a BUCKLE FOR LINEMENS BELTS Filed Jan. 13, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet, l

jfirzmeii Gorabzz.

Nov. 13, 1934. E, R, GORDON 1,80,678

BUCKLE FOR LINEMENS BELTS Filed Jan. 13, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet. 2

J; \fiizdezzz? Patented Nov. 13, 1934 UNETED STATES PATENT OFFICE BUCKLE FOR LENEMENS BELTS tion of Illinois Application January 13,

9 Claims.

My invention relates to safety belts and more particularly to latch buckles for safety belts.

An object of my invention is the provision of a latch buckle for a linemans safety belt in which accidental unlatching of the buckle is practically impossible.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a latch buckle for a linemans belt in which the strain of the weight of the wearer of the belt is carried on a rigid portion of the buckle.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a latch buckle for a linemans belt in which the weight of the wearer of the belt must be released from the buckle before it can be unlatched, and in which the wearer of the belt must perform a positive twisting operation on the buckle hook and strap in order to accomplish the unlatching thereof.

Other objects of my invention will be more apparent from the specification when taken in connection with the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a safety belt embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a side view of my improved linemans latch buckle with parts of the buckle shown in dotted line;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of portion of Fig. 1 with parts broken away to show more clearly the construction of my latch buckle; v

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional View taken on the line 44 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a view showing the buckle hook of my improved linemans latch buckle;

Figs. 6, '7, 8 and 9 are viewsshowing successive steps in the latching, and unlatching of my linemans latch buckle;

Fig. 10 is a partial side view of my latch buckle with the top plates shown in dotted lines and with parts in cross section .to show more clearly the construction of the latch buckle.

The linemans belt in which my invention is embodied in general comprises a waist belt 12 of leather or any other suitable pliable material,

5 which may be provided with the usual means of securing the belt around the waist of the wearer such as an adjustable strap buckle 14. The waist belt 12 is secured by means of rivets 16 to an auxiliary belt 18 and an excess of leather, or other material of which the belt is made, is allowed in the waist belt 12 between the rivets 16 to provide loops or pockets 20 in which the tools for the use of the wearer of the belt may be carried.

One end of the auxiliary belt 18 is doubled 1932, Serial No. 556,359

back at 22 and riveted at 24to provide means for attaching a loop of metal 26 through which the waist belt 12 passes. An adjustable strap 28 passes through the other end of the metallic loop 26 and is arranged to encircle a pole 30.

The strap 28 may be provided with a means of adjusting its effective length as by sliding a D-ring 32 to which one end of the strap 28 is secured along the strap. The other end of the strap 28 passes througha D-ring' 34 and is doubled back and secured by rivets 36. The D-ring 34 may be formed integral with an arm 36 to which there may be secured integrally a buckle hook portion 38.: r

The arm 36 is reduced in size at the buckle hook to provide a neck portion 41 whereby the buckle hook may be more readily engaged with a buckle generally indicated by the numeral 39. The hook 38 is substantially circular in shape, but there extends from the periphery thereof a key or pointed portion 40 for a purpose to be hereinafter described. The D-ring 34, arm 36', and the latch buckle hook 38 may be formed of any suitable material but are preferably formed of a steel forging or othe suitable non-brittle material.

In a linemans belt of this type the weight of the wearer of the belt must be'supported at a distance from the poleand as the safety of the wearer depends upon the type of latch buckle used, it is exceedingly important that means be provided whereby it is practically impossible to unlatch the hook from the buckle accidentally. Accordingly, I provide means whereby the buckle hook is locked securely in the buckle upon insertion, the parts beingof such construction' that a positive but simple unlatching operation .must'be performed by the wearer of the belt in order to disengage the hook from the buckle.

The buckle 39 in general comprises a pair of spaced mounting legs 42 which are secured to the auxiliary belt.18 by'means of rivets 44. The mounting legs 42 are raised at 46 so that the central portions of the mounting legs stand away from the strap 18 to provide a space therebetween for the passage of the wai'stbelt 12. A cross member 48 extends between the mounting legs 42 and is secured to the mounting legs in any suitable manner. The top and bottom portions of the cross member 48 are bent upwardly to form upwardly extending walls 50 and 51. The upwardly extending wall are rebent toward each other to form top plates 52 and 54 which are parallel to and spaced belt.

sufiiciently from the bottom plate of the cross piece 48 to accommodate the hook 38. The adjoining edges of the top plates 52 and 54 are spaced apart to provide therebetween an opening or slot 55 large enough for the insertion of the neck portion 41 of the hook 38.

The forward ends of the top plates 52 and 54 are cut off at 56 at an angle to the edges of the plates to form a guide for the buckle hook so that it may be more easily slid under the top plates 52 and 54 and so that the entry of the neck 41 in the slot 55 between the top plates 52 and 54 may be more easily accomplished. A latch member 58 is mounted between the top plate 52 and the bottom of the cross member 48 by means of a pin or bolt 60 secured in the top plate 52 and vin the bottom portion of the cross member 48. The latch 58 may, for the sake of lightness in weight, be made U-shaped in cross-section. One end of the latch 58 is pointed at 62 and adapted to cooperate with the key portion 40 of the hook 38. The, latch 58 is normally urged by means of a spring 64 so that it lies partially across the slot 55 below the plane of the plates 52 and 54.

A number of coils of the spring 64 encircle pin 60 and one end of the spring is restrained by the side wall 51 while the other end lies in the U portion of thelatch piece 58.

A stop 66 secured in the top plate 52 and in the bottom plate of the crosspiece limits the movement of the latch piece 58 so that it'extends across the opening of the top plates 52 and 54 at an angle and in a direction away from the hook guideway 56. The stop 66 also restrains the latch 58 so that there is a space between the end 62 of the latch piece 58 and the lower side wall 50 of the crosspiece 48. One end of the buckle is closed by a wall 68 which forms an abutment for the hook 38 to bear the strain of the weight of the wearer of the If desired the entire buckle may be a stamping bent and formed in the manner shown and described or it may be a steel forging or malleable casting, in which case the wall member 68 may be forged or cast integral with the edges of the walls of the buckle.

As shown in Fig. 6, the neck 41 of the hook is inserted in the guideway 56 between the top plates 52 and 54. 'As the strap 28 is pulled the latch 58 is pushed aside allowing the hook to move to the other side of the latch 58, whereupon when the weight of the lineman is thrown on the safety belt, the strain is carried on the endplate 68. W It maybe desirable to make the width of the plates 52 and 54 equal so that the hook may be turned in either a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction to engage the key 40 of the hook with the end 62 of the latch 58. However, if the lineman is supporting himself on the pole by the usual pointed spurs strapped to his legs and the strap 28 is slacker red, therewill be a tendency for the hook to rotate clockwise because of the weight of the strap 28, and the key 40 may accidentally engage the point'62 of the latch.

For this reason it is desirable that the plate 54 be made narrower than the plate 52 so that if the hook is rotated in a clockwise direction, the point 40 will strike against the side Wall 50 and rotation prevented, whereas, if the hook is rotated in a counter-clockwise direction it may be easily turned whereby the key 40 will en age the end of the latch piece 58.

It will be observed that in order to engage the key portion 40 of the hook with the end of the latch 58, it is necessary to rotate the hook through more than 180 degrees counter-clockwise from the position in which it is shown in Fig. 7 to the position in which it is shown in Fig. 8, and in order to accomplish this, the strap 28 must be manually twisted. When the strap 28 has been twisted the necessary amount to bring the key 40 in registry with the opening between the side wall 50 and the end of the latch 58, the

'hook is pulled slightly toward the guideway,

inserted in this opening, and the strap 28 together with the hook 38 are rotated in a clockwise direction from the position in which the means for allowing rotation of said hook in the other direction, said buckle and said hook being so constructed and arranged that said hook must .be rotated through an appreciable angle in one direction and then in the opposite direction in order to release it from engagement with said buckle.

'2. In a latch buckle, a pair of plates having a slot 'therebetween, a hook insertable in said slot, a latch extending across said slot, cooperable parts on said hook and said latch of suchsize and conformation that said hook must be rotated in one direction to bring it into engagement with said latch, and then in the opposite direction to move said latch from a position obstructing said slot.

3. A latch buckle comprising a bottom plate and a topplate having a slot therein, a latch movable between said top and bottom plates and extending across said slot below the plane of said top plate, a hook having a key portion insertible insaid slot, said buckle and said hook being of such size and conformation that said hook must be rotated in one direction in order to engage said key portion with said latch and then moved in the opposite direction to move said latch from obstructing said slot.

4. A'buckle for linemens belts,'comprising a top plate having a slot therein'and a bottom plate spaced from said top plate, a hook insertable in said slot, a latch movably extending across said slot between said top and bottom plates and arranged to restrain said hook from being removed from said buckle, said hook and latch having cooperating parts of such size and conformation that said latch will be moved from its obstructing position across said slot upon rotation of said hook in one direction to bring the same into engagement with said latch and thereafter rotating the hook in the opposite direction.

5. A buckle for linemans belts comprising, a top plate having a slot therein, and a bottom plate spaced from said top plate, a latch mounted between said plates, a spring to hold said latch across said slot between said plates, and a hook insertable in said slot past said latch and having a part operable upon rotation through an angle of more than 180 to engage said latch and upon subsequent rotation in the opposite direction to move said latch from obstructing position and permit disengagement of said hook from the buckle.

6. In a linemans belt, a buckle comprising a top plate having a slot therein and a bottom plate spaced from said top plate, a latch movably extending across said slot, a hook insertible in said slot, an end wall secured to said top and bottom plates to carry the strain of the weight of the wearer of the belt, said latch being arranged to restrain said hook from being removed from said buckle, and means on said hook engageable with said latch to move the latter from obstructing said slot.

'7. In a buckle comprising a top plate having a slot therein and a bottom plate spaced from said top plate, a hook having a key portion, and a latch extending across said slot below the plane of said top plate, said key portion and said latch being of such size and conformation that said latch may be moved from obstructing said slot only by rotating said hook in one direction and engaging said key portion with said latch and thereafter rotating said hook in the opposite direction.

8. In a linemans belt, a buckle comprising a top plate having a slot therein and a bottom plate spaced from said top plate, a buckle'hook having a key portion, a latch extending across said slot below the plane of said top plate, a spring for urging said latch into a position to obstruct said slot, a limit stop for said latch, said latch and said hook being constructed and arranged for moving the former from obstructing said slot by rotating said buckle hook in one direction to engage said key portion with said latch and thereafter rotating said hook in the opposite direction.

9. Attaching means for linemens belts and the like comprising, a member having a T-slot formed therein closed at one end, a latch pivotally secured to said member and normally forming an obstruction across said slot, adjacent the open end thereof, resilient means to hold said latch in normal position, and a hook element having a head portion slidable in said slot, said hook element having a part engageable with said latch to swing the latter from its normal obstructing position, the engagement between said hook element and latch requiring rotation of said hook element in one direction through a substantial angle to bring it into engagement with said latch and thereafter rotated in the opposite direction to move said latch from its obstructing position across said slot.

EMMETT R. GORDON. 

